An Oklahoma judge is facing disciplinary action after she was seen exchanging about 500 text messages with her bailiff in which she mocked prosecutors and questioned the testimony of the mother of a child who was the victim of a murder two years ago.
The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court called for the firing of Judge Traci Soderstorm in a ruling issued Thursday following an investigation by the state’s Judicial Complaints Council.
The judge, who was promoted last January, was caught on surveillance cameras on her cell phone during the trial of Khristian Martzall, who was accused of murdering Braxton Danker, a two-year-old toddler who was beaten to death.
When Judith Danker, the boy’s mother, came to testify against Martzall, her ex-partner, the judge texted: “Can I shout ‘liar, liar’?”
“The state cannot accept that a mother can kill her child, so she grabs the only person available,” says another text message that emerged from the complaints office’s investigation.
In her arguments, the judge questioned whether a lawyer wore a wig, whether a witness had dentures, and also made inappropriate comments about the appearance of a “very good-looking” police officer who had been called to the stand.
“I could stare at it all day,” she wrote.
The judge repeatedly attacked prosecutor Adam Panter, saying he was “sweating under his coat” and had “baby hands.” She also sent a laughing emoji after the bailiff pointed out the lawyer’s genitals.
In other communications, the judge praised the defense attorney’s work. “May I applaud him,” it says on the exchange. She even reportedly talked about the punishment she wanted to impose on the defendant.
At the end of the trial, Martzall was found guilty of manslaughter in connection with the death of the child killed in 2018 and sentenced to four years in prison with credit for time already served during his trial.
Judith Danker pleaded guilty to allowing the abuse of a child and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Under questioning by the Judicial Complaints Council, Judge Soderstorm admitted that her text messages “could have waited.”
The Chief Justice reiterated that the judge’s conduct represented “a dereliction of her duties through a blatant lack of impartiality” and that she “did not have the temperament to hold the office of judge.”
“The text messages indicate that the judge believed in the defendant’s innocence and wanted an accurate conclusion to the case,” he continues.
Traci Soderstorm was suspended when the text message story came to light.
According to the New York Post.